After the Thirteenth Hour
by onlyforever1187
Summary: Five years after her encounter with the Goblin King, Sarah is reunited with him. A bit of fluff, but also a bit of adult-oriented material.
1. I

*Disclaimer*-I do not own the Labyrinth, nor Jennifer Connelly, David Bowie, or any other names mentioned in this story. Don't sue. :)  
  
Sarah set up, her face glistening with sweat, her nightgown twisted around her waist, and her blankets and sheets kicked to the end of the bed. She'd had the dream again-the dream about Jareth. His face seemed to haunt her dreams more often than not, especially recently. She shook herself, as if to rid her memory of his handsome, yet incredibly mysterious, face.   
  
"Okay, Sarah. Get a hold of yourself. It's all just a dream, Jareth and his Labyrinth are over, there's no way that he can even talk to me anymore. Just grow up and get over it." She stood up and walked to her vanity, where she sat and stared into the mirror. The calender, reflected in the mirror from the wall behind her, caught her eye.   
  
It had been five years.   
  
In her dream, she was still fifteen, living with her dad, stepbrother, and baby brother Toby. She was still full of teenage angst, so young and immature. Then the Labyrinth had come along, and changed her. But those days were in the past. Now she was attending college in a different part of the state, majoring in the theatrical arts, just like her mother had done. She had hoped to fall in love with her co-star, and follow in her mother's footsteps-except for the whole abandoning her family part-and live a happy life. She seemed to be oblivious, though, to the lustful stares of her classmates, and didn't realize that she could have her pick of men. Her sub-conscience might of known, but her awake mine didn't pick up on it. Perhaps it was the fact that deep down, she knew that her fantasy about being like her mother was never going to be anything more than that, just a fantasy. Or perhaps it was the fact that deep down, she also knew that she wanted only one man, no matter how many times she tried to deny it. No number of handsome, talented co-stars could sweep her off her feet quite the way that he did.  
  
"Jareth."   
  
She dared to breathe his name, the name of the Goblin King, afraid that somehow he would hear her and appear in a flash. "No, that's silly," she said to herself, shaking the thoughts from her mind. "I don't love him. I hardly even know him, and what's more, all that I do know of him is that he's cruel and evil. He wouldn't want anything to do with me." In the back of her mind, a small voice told her differently. Memories raced through her head, like a videotape on fast-forward, until she reached a certain one and jerked to a stop.   
  
"What no one knew is that the King of the Goblins had fallen in love with the girl, and had given her special powers." There she was, standing in front of the mirror in Toby's bedroom with the baby screaming in the background. She remembered how frustrated she had been that night, and how she felt that she just couldn't take it anymore. She had felt connected to her imaginary "King of the Goblins", and then came to find out that he wasn't only a figment of her imagination. He was real...oh God, he was real. Snapping back to present time, Sarah shook her head, as though trying to rid it of the thoughts that kept trying to sneak in, but that she kept trying so hard to keep out.  
  
"Get over it, Sarah. It was five years ago, he's probably gone off and found some hussy that he can be happy with. He would of never wanted you anyway. Just get over it, you gave up on acting like a child years ago." She turned violently away from her mirror, as though her reflection might deny everything she had just spoken aloud to the dark and silent room. She stalked back to the bed and climbed back underneath the covers, finding the warmth that she had left. Her conscience mind slipped away to dreams, and in those last few moments before sleep and awake, she thought she saw the shadow of an owl coming through the window on the opposite wall. Before she could react, though, she blinked, and was back to sleep.  
  
The shadow of the owl fluffed it's feathers, then pushed off of the branch it had been perched on. It flew towards the moon. The scenery suddenly changed, and the owl was no longer flying over tree and housetops, but over an elaborate maze, towards a splendid castle. When it reached a stone windowsill, the owl was gone, and in it's place stood the King of Goblins, blonde hair in spikes down his back and chest, and a glimmer of tears in his mismatched eyes.   
  
"Please don't give up on me yet, Sarah." Snatching a crystal out of thin air, he flipped it back and forth between his hands. "Let me show you your dreams." 


	2. II

Sarah tossed her head, flipping her mane of black hair behind her shoulders as she walked across campus towards the auditorium. Walking inside, blasts of cold air hitting her in the face, she caught something out of the corner of her eye. Something that looked a little familiar...but she disregarded it, and walked into the dressing room to prepare for rehearsal.  
  
The play that year was written by a group of alumni, centered around a teenage girl trapped in a fantasy world. Sarah had been cast as Rachel, the lead, and appropriately so. The director, Professor Haskell, kept commenting on how real her performance was, as if Sarah had actually been in a world similar to the one the play was set in. Every time the professor marveled at her ability to be such at ease in acting the role, Sarah just had to smile, shake her head, and say that it all came naturally.  
  
Outside, the sun slowly sank behind the buildings of the campus, and the students one by one emerged from their classrooms, only to emerge a short time later from their dorms, ready for a Friday night out. The actors and actresses finished up rehearsal and dispersed to the dressing rooms, gathering up their things and discussing plans.   
  
"Sarah." Jack Kelley, the male lead, approached Sarah as she was walking out the door towards her car. "I was wondering, if you weren't doing anything tonight, maybe we could catch dinner, and a movie, if you didn't mind, or weren't busy, or anything like that," Jack said hurriedly, blushing a brighter shade of red with every word. "I mean, you don't have to, but I just think we'd have a good time together, that's all."  
  
"Why, Jack, I'd love too!" Sarah was elated. This was exactly what she needed to rid her mind of Jareth. A night out with a potential boyfriend would surely erase every recent thought of the Goblin King, as well as her now frequent dreams about the Labyrinth. "Let me put my things in my car and we'll go, okay?"   
  
  
  
Jareth snatched the crystal out of the air and smashed it against a stone wall. Throwing himself on a bed covered with black satin sheets and blue fur blankets, he fought the urge to scream aloud. Instead, he voiced his thoughts to the cold and empty room.  
  
"That boy isn't what she needs, much less wants! Why doesn't she see that I'm here, at her beck and call, waiting to wait on her hand and foot, and all she has to do is call on me? I know I'm what she wants, so why does she deny herself?"   
  
A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts. A goblin stepped in, armor clattering together as he shook in the presence of his king, obviously aware of his anger. "My lord, the goblins have prepared your meal, if you wish to attend..." He trailed off, then ducked out of the doorway as Jareth threw his cane at him. He had no appetite, no will to step out of his bedchamber, no intention of doing anything until Sarah called on him.   
  
"It's only a matter of time."  
  
Meanwhile, Sarah and Jack sat in a dark, deserted movie theater, watching a movie that everybody else had seen a month ago, when it was a new release. She was enjoying Jack's company, but it wasn't how she always imagined it to be. She thought that she would be full of nervous excitement, complete with a fluttery stomach and sweaty palms. She felt the fluttery stomach when Jack got close, but not the good kind of fluttery stomach. The nauseous fluttery stomach. "Why do I feel this way? Jack's a nice guy, but..."  
  
She didn't dare finish the rest of the thought. She knew what she wanted to say, but she thought that if she didn't say it, maybe she didn't really wish it. She argued with herself until she realized that the credits were rolling, and Jack was slumped back in his chair, sighing.  
  
"Jack? Are you okay?"   
  
"Yeah, Sarah. I'm fine. What say we go get a bite to eat?"  
  
It sounded good to Sarah to get out of the suddenly stuffy theater. "Sounds great!" She tried to put on a cheerful voice, but the fun had gone out of the evening. Still, she was determined to make the best out of it, almost as though she was trying to prove herself wrong. Almost as though she was trying to prove Jareth wrong. Jack held the door of the car open as Sarah slid in, and then waited for Jack to get in on the opposite side. As they left the parking lot, a feeling of uneasiness had descended onto Sarah's shoulders. She noticed that they were going the wrong direction-all the restaurants that would of been open at the time of night were on the west side of town, and they were heading east. "Jack? Were are we going?"  
  
He didn't answer, and Sarah's heart started to beat faster.   
  
After a few more minutes of silent driving, Jack pulled into an empty parking lot, turned off the ignition, and put the keys in his pocket. He turned and looked at Sarah, sitting beside him, staring straight ahead. "Look, Sarah. I like you, I always have. But there's something that you must not be getting. I'm Jack Kelley. I get what I want. And what I want is you, baby." He leaned across the car and captured Sarah's face in between his hands and brutally pressed his lips to hers, stubble raking across her chin.  
  
"Jack, stop it this instant!" Sarah barely managed to push him away, only to have him crawl across the center console and unbuckle her seatbelt.   
  
"You know you want it, too, baby. Don't deny it."  
  
Sarah frantically raked at his face with her nails, but it didn't deter him. His hands were busy at his belt buckle, then at hers. It all rushed by Sarah's eyes as a blur, but in slow motion. She felt her jeans being pushed down her hips, and Jack's hands roughly roaming her body while she kicked, scratched, screamed, and fought. Somewhere in her head, a haunting melody softly started playing.   
  
"I'll be there for you...as the world falls down..."  
  
"JARETH! I NEED YOU!" Sarah heard herself scream. She heard scuffling sounds, and felt Jack's weight being pulled off her. Soon afterwards she fainted, letting her semi-conscience succumb to numbness. 


	3. III

Slowly, Sarah opened her eyes. The sunlight streaming in through the windows hurt her eyes, and she closed them again. Her bed was so warm, and so soft, and she just wanted to stay in there forever. But she couldn't, and she knew it.   
  
What day was it? Was it Saturday? Sarah couldn't remember. The last event she could remember was screaming out something while Jack was on top of her, and then fainting.   
  
"Wait. If I fainted, then who took me home? How did I get out of Jack's car and back to my own? Why did Jack stop?" She opened her eyes and sat up, looking around her. She was in her apartment, in her room. "Maybe it was all just a dream," she said aloud to nobody. She stretched, then lazily lifted herself out of the bed. On the way out the door, she caught her reflection, and gasped.  
  
Her face was bruised and covered in whisker burns from where Jack had grabbed and kissed her so roughly the night before. She ran her hands over her body, and winced when she felt the tenderness between her legs. How far had Jack gotten? She didn't remember. She slumped down in the chair, feeling the sobs rising up in her throat.  
  
"He didn't, if that's what you're wondering."  
  
Sarah nearly fell off the chair when she heard that voice. She slowly raised her eyes to look in the mirror. Her unmade bed was show in the reflection, and to her surprise: so was Jareth, the Goblin King.  
  
He was lounging on her bed, like he laid there like that every Saturday morning. In such a wanton position, Sarah felt the sudden desire to run to him, to let him love her and love him in return, and let him have her. But she fought it, and instead replied with a shaky, "What do you mean?"  
  
"He didn't get as far as he wanted to. I stopped him before he had the chance. Did he hurt you, Sarah? Are you okay?" His mismatched eyes were suddenly deep and full of worry as he got up and walked towards her. He reached out a gloved hand to cup her face, but she recoiled.  
  
"What are you doing here, Jareth?" She tried to sound as cold as possible, hoping that the warmth she felt at feeling him didn't show through in her voice.  
  
"You called upon me, remember?"  
  
"I did no such thing." She turned her head and stuck her nose in the air. Jareth just laughed softly and waved his hand. A crystal appeared, and he blew it so that it floated in front of Sarah's face. She gasped when she saw what was inside: Jack was on top of her, his hands punishing her for no reason, his mouth raping hers. She heard herself scream for Jareth, and saw him appear out of nowhere, throwing Jack out of the car. He had saved her. He had brought her home, and he had watched after her throughout the night.  
  
"You see?"  
  
"Well, I appreciate what you did for me. You can go back to your castle now."   
  
"Sarah, don't deny it. You know you're glad to see me, so why won't you just admit it?"  
  
"I'm not glad, I'm disgusted." She was shocked at her outright lie. Why was she being so horrid to him? Was she afraid of falling in love and then getting her heart broken? Was she afraid that he'd leave her once she opened up? She didn't know, and that worried her, but she didn't let it show when she turned around to face him.  
  
She gasped. While she was watching the orb, he had come up behind her. They were now face to face, closer than they'd ever been before. The nearness of him was like a magnet, and she was willing to do anything to close the almost inexistent gap, but somehow restrained herself.  
  
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Sarah, but I'm not leaving yet. Not until I get what I want from you."  
  
"Tell me what it is, and I'll give it to you. Anything to get you out of here!" Sarah wanted to scream out loud, tell Jareth that she didn't mean any of it. The words just kept flowing out of her mouth on their own accord, startling her every time she heard the harsh tone that came out with them.  
  
"Don't play games, Sarah. You know what it is that I want. I've wanted it ever since I met you." He stepped closer, leaving no space between their bodies. She was at eye level with his chest, and she inhaled, taking in the way that he smelled and the way his breast rose and fell with every breath. He slid one gloved hand behind around her neck, and gently forced her to look up into his eyes. "Merely fear me, love me, do as I say, and I will be your slave," he whispered.   
  
Trying to keep tears from spilling out of the corners of her eyes, Sarah blinked. In that split second, Jareth had pressed his lips against hers, his tongue lightly flicking out and trailing the line between her lower and bottom lips. Then he was gone.  
  
"What's said is said, Sarah. I'll be back." 


	4. IV

Sarah paused, her hand resting on the doorknob. She was standing outside the door of the dressings rooms, listening to the voices of her castmates. Rehearsal had been canceled for the past three weeks, due to the director coming down with mono. That meant three weeks since the night that Jack attacked her, and three weeks since seeing Jareth. The thought of their kiss kept her up at all hours of the night, ruining her ability to concentrate on her classes. He'd promised that he'd be back, but when? Would he be back should something else happen to her, like what had happened with Jack?  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted by the doorhandle turning underneath her palm. She gasped and stepped back, afraid to death that it would be Jack.  
  
"Sarah! It's so great to see you after all this time! These past three weeks have felt like an eternity, huh?" Sarah let out the breath she had been holding. It was Ashley, one of the other female leads. Ashley's character, Laryin, befriended Rachel, Sarah's character, but turned out to be evil when she lead her off of the path that was the way to go for Rachel to get back home. Sarah was glad that she hadn't known anybody like that when she was solving the Labyrinth.  
  
"Hey, Ashley. It's great to see you too. Do you know how Haskell's d-"  
  
She was cut off when the door swung open behind them, her sentence froze in her throat. Jack was standing behind Ashley, glaring at Sarah like she was the most disgusting person on the face of the earth. Ashley looked puzzled at Sarah's expression and turned around. "Oh, hey Jack!" she said enthuastically. "Isn't it great to see everybody again?"  
  
"Peachy. Sarah, can I talk to you?" He didn't give her much of a choice. He grabbed her by the forearm and dragged her into a corner of the hallway. She was terrified.  
  
Jareth watched the conversation unfolding between Sarah and Jack, his temper becoming more and more agitated with every lie that came out through that bastard's teeth.  
  
"Sarah," Jack was saying, "I know that I don't deserve forgiveness for what I did to you that night. I had been drinking, and the booze must of gotten to my head, because I'm not that way at all. I hope that you can believe me, and I hope that you can forgive me."  
  
"Sarah Elizabeth Williams," Jareth hissed through his clenched teeth. "You better not believe a word that he's saying, it's all a lie. He don't care about you, I do, why can't you see that?" He waited for Sarah's response to Jack's apology.  
  
"Jack...I just don't know what to say to you. I don't think that I can be around you for a while, I really don't. Just...just give me time to think about this."  
  
Jareth roared. She shouldn't of even replied to his insincere apology! What was wrong with her? Why did she continue to play these games with herself?  
  
"Sarah, please, just give me one more chance! I promise that I'm a different person. I've gotten help about my drinking, and I won't force myself on you, or make you do anything that you don't want to do. I really care about you, Sarah, I do. I have. Please believe me, please give me another chance!" Jack was practically begging for Sarah's forgiveness. Jareth saw right through it.   
  
"That's it. I don't care if she doesn't want me there or not, I'm going back to her. I'm not going to let her get hurt."  
  
  
  
Sarah was in the middle of Act Two, Scene Three when she saw Jareth standing backstage. She couldn't wait for the rehearsal to get over, but she wasn't sure why. She didn't know if she wanted to scream at him for suddenly appearing in the middle of one of her rehearsals, or if she wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him until all hell broke loose. She ended up doing the former.  
  
"I don't care how worried you are about me, Jareth, one of my rehearsals is no place for you to just show up unexpectedly!  
  
"You knew I'd be back. I told you I would."  
  
"There isn't any reason to try and argue with you, Jareth. You're so unreasonable."  
  
"Actually, what I say makes very good sense, Sarah. You should listen."  
  
"I refuse."  
  
"You didn't refuse me last time we saw each other, did you?" He stepped closer, not seeming to care that there were people milling about, just inches away from where they were standing.   
  
"You kissed me, Jareth."  
  
"It takes two, baby."  
  
Sarah was furious. All thoughs of happiness at seeing him again had flown out the window, now her temper was agitated. She couldn't think of anything to counter his remark, so instead she twirled around on her heels and walked away. She could feel him staring at her as she retreated, but he didn't do anything to stop her.   
  
By the time Sarah got back to her apartment, she had cooled down a little bit. Now there was something different plauging her. Why didn't he stop her from walking away?   
  
  
  
Jareth was wondering the same thing. 


	5. V

Jareth sprawled across his bed, sinking into the mattress. He was furious at Sarah, but even more upset with himself. He should of stopped her from leaving, from walking away. He knew that she would of been upset if he showed up at her apartment unannounced, but that she'd welcome the intrusion after a short time.   
  
He rolled over and propped his chin up in his hands. He wished that he could be there with her, making her show that gorgeous smile, making her laugh. He wished that he could taste her kiss again...that last one wasn't near enough to satisfy him. She was becoming his hunger pain, and now that he had a taste he wanted more. He wanted her skin, her hands, her whole being, her entire soul...but it seemed like he would never get it. Not at the way that things were progressing.  
  
"I'll win you over, Sarah. You may not want to admit it now, but you know you want me just as bad as I want you," he muttered outloud, to nobody. Waving his hands in the air he called upon a crystal, ordering it to show him what Sarah was doing. Seeing her face, enough though it was through the opaque surface of the crystal, brought a smile to his own.   
  
Sarah turned around, getting the feeling that somebody was watching her. Nobody was behind her, though, so she walked on. It was a Friday afternoon, and she didn't have another class until Monday at three, so she decided to take a long weekend and visit her family. She didn't realize how much she'd miss them until she left for college, but now that she was away her heart ached every time something reminded her of them. She threw her bag into the backseat of her car and got in the front, putting on her sunglasses and turning on the radio. The drive back home was two and a half hours, so she figured that putting on a little music would help to make it seem shorter.  
  
She was halfway there, driving down an old two-lane highway, belting out the song on the radio, when she heard something that sounded like an explosion. Her car swerved, and she barely was able to hang on to the steering wheel and jerk it back to the center of the road. Coming to a jerky stop, she turned off the ignition and stepped out, only to find a blown tire.   
  
"Damn. Damn damn damn damn." Sarah cursed at the blown out tire, kicking it, then screaming in pain as fire shot up her lower leg. She blew her hair out of her eyes and decided to suck it up and try her hardest to change the tire. If she couldn't succeed, then she'd walk back to the gas station she passed about five miles back.   
  
She couldn't succeed. She threw a blanket over all of her belonings and put them in the floor of the backseat, locked the car, and set off walking.  
  
"Where exactly do you think you're going, Sarah?"  
  
She screamed bloody murder and swung her purse around to attack the person that snuck up behind her before she realized who it was. "Jareth!" She was never so happy to see somebody in her entire life. She was barely able to restrain herself from throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing the hell out of him. Another being was a wonderful and delicious sight.   
  
"Happy to see me, darling?"  
  
"I'd be happy to see Jack the Ripper or Hannibal Lecter, just as long as I had some company."  
  
"Well I daresay that I'm better company than those two. Do you need help?"  
  
"Do you know how to change a flat tire?"  
  
"For you, anything."  
  
Sarah led Jareth back to the car. "Think you can handle it?" Jareth raised one eyebrow and grinned, waving his hand over the blown tire. It was fixed, good as new.  
  
"Now, let's discuss payment."  
  
"Payment? Well, Jareth, you know as well as I do that you can't use my kind of money, so there isn't anything that I can give you..." She trailed off as his expression made his meaning clearer. "Jareth, now you kno-"  
  
She was cut off by his kiss. 


	6. VI

Sarah was shocked. Jareth had exerted such force, such power...it was kind of a turn on. She felt herself slipping further and further away from reality as their kiss deepened, his tongue gently exploring the inside of his mouth, his lips caressing hers. He pushed her body against the car and pushed his body next to hers, causing a falling sensation in the pit of her stomach. Heat flared all over her body, but it was mostly centered in between her legs, where his evident arousal was pressing.  
  
"Jareth-" Sarah tried to mumble out a weak protest, but was quickly silenced. His hands stopped their exploration of her back, reached around her and opened the car door, pushing her down into the backseat. He ended their kissing, although reluctantly, to look her in the eyes and speak.   
  
"Sarah, it should be obvious as to how much I want you. But I want you to know that this isn't just lust...it's so much more than that. We could be something so beautiful, Sarah, but if I'm moving too fast, then just let me know. I'll stop whenever you tell me to stop, and I won't push you. Do you believe me?"  
  
Sarah, too stunned to speak, just nodded. Jareth smiled, one eyebrow raised, and moved his kisses from her lips to her jawline, leaving a tantalizing trail down her neck and to her collarbone. Every touch of his lips to her skin felt like fire, but a pleasant burn instead of a painful one. His hips rolled against hers, almost dance-like, and even though she was embarrassed, she didn't want it to stop. She didn't want it to ever stop. She became aware of a soft, silky texture in her hands, and realized that she was running her fingers through his mane of shocking blonde hair.   
  
His hands at her waist and slowly traveling downwards, Jareth looked up at Sarah's face. The expression resting there of such peace and such pleasure at the same time was enough to both break his heart and mend it. It was then that he realized that he really, truly, honestly loved her, from the bottom of his soul to the top of his heart. Everything he'd ever done in his entire life had been for this moment, and all of the sweet moments that they would share when they were finally together.   
  
"Jareth? Are you okay?" Sarah had broken from her trance and was now looking at the face of the man resting his head on her abdomen. She felt something wet against the skin that her rumpled shirt had revealed, and was surprised to find out that they were tears. "Jareth? Jareth, answer me. Jareth, please, are you okay?" Sarah completely set up, making Jareth fall out off of her stomach and into her lap.  
  
"Sarah," he said softly. "I can't help it. I've never...this is something so...it's all just...I don't even know how to describe it. I'm at a loss for words. That's how you make me feel, Sarah, and I like it. I like it a lot."  
  
Sarah felt like crying herself. Never had she heard this man, this seeming cruel, stone-hearted man speak with such emotion and tenderness. She shivered as a chill went down her spine, causing him to sit up. He was taken aback when he saw tears rolling down her cheeks, as though trying to match the ones cascading around his.  
  
"Sarah, do I make you sad?"  
  
"No, Jareth, it's not that at all. I just...you...you don't understand what kind of position I'm being put in." She knew that he didn't understand anything about the position she was being put in, nor would he ever know. She felt herself falling in love with the Goblin King, the man who could make her the happiest person on earth, yet she couldn't have him. Her only obvious choice was to end it, here and now, before it went any further. But that would mean having to live without him, and she didn't know if she could bear that.   
  
As much as she wanted to, Sarah resisted throwing herself into his strong arms and bawling like a baby. He wouldn't be able to take care of this problem, and she knew it. This would have to be her own battle.  
  
"Jareth."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I think it might be best if you leave now."  
  
Jareth blinked in surprise, then nodded. "I understand." Sarah knew that was a lie, how could he understand? He didn't know what she was going through.  
  
He sighed, then summoned a crystal and vanished, not even saying goodbye.  
  
Sarah curled up in the corner of the backseat. Her lips seemed to be screaming at her to get back the thing that made them burn so delightfully, and her hips seemed to be begging her to roll back into the warmth and excitement of his body, but she couldn't.  
  
Instead, she cried.  
  
Jareth paced in the doorway of his bedchambers. He was flustered and still aroused from the incident in the car, but he knew that neither would go away until he was fully satisfied. Before, he had wanted just another taste of her lips, and then her skin...he wanted to feel her beneath him, her heart pulsating with his, the two of them in sync. Now, he had felt it, and the only thing he wanted in life was to have more. But not even more was enough, he had to have it all. He had to have her: body, mind, and soul.  
  
"Sarah." He spoke her name aloud to the empty room. "I understand so much more than you think."  
  
He fell backwards onto his bed, his entire body screaming for the erotic, whispery touches that he had felt only minutes before. He couldn't satiate them, though, so instead he laid his head onto the pillows, and cried. 


	7. VII

Yes yes yes, I know. My few readers out there...I'm sorry I haven't updated. Please forgive me! :) My muse left, but she's back now, and I have many ideas for many twists and turns. Oh yeah, and disclaimer: I don't own this movie. There you go, everybody's happy.  
  
"Okay, people, great rehearsal. Remember, call tomorrow is at 5:00 SHARP! Don't you dare be late, or I'll have your hide!" Professor Haskell stood in the center of the stage, waving around a megaphone that wasn't really needed and stamping his feet to emphasize his point. "We'll do a great job on opening night, I just know it. Now get out there and get some rest-tomorrow will be a big day!"  
  
Sarah sighed. Even though opening night was a big deal, it signaled the ending of the production. That always tugged at her heartstrings-she always became so close to the cast. She got the feeling that she'd be glad to get this show over with, because it meant no more Jack. Sarah still hadn't decided on wether or not to forgive him, but for the sake of rehearsals going well (and staying on Haskell's good side), she had managed to relive some of the tension between them by at least being civil.  
  
Much to the displeasure of the Goblin King, who had been steadily watching her every move since the day he rescued her from a flat tire. His eyes stayed on hers the rest of her drive back home, and the tears flowing out of her eyes were exact to the ones flowing out of his. He watched her put on fasle pretenses when she stepped through the doorway, hugs and kisses flying at her from every direction from Richard, Karen, and Toby.   
  
"Sarah!" They all had screamed. "We're so glad to have you back!"  
  
"Sarah, guess what! I started kindergarten, and my teacher says I'm the smartest kid in the class!"  
  
"Sarah, darling, just tell me all about everything! We're all going to come up and watch you in your play, now when is opening night?"  
  
"Sarah, your room is exactly how you left it, come on dear, let's go put your things away!"  
  
Jareth could tell that she was overwhelmed with all of this commotion. He watched her trudge up the stairs to her bedroom. Richard hadn't lied, it was exactly the way she left it. Her shelves of stuffed animals had been replaced with thick, leather bound volumes of theatre history, biographies of playwrights, and entire collected works. The fantasy books of her teenage years were in a box in the back of the closet, along with her homemade costumes, and the scrapbook filled with reviews and clips from shows her mother performed in. It felt like home.   
  
The weekend she spent with her family was like a catharsis for Sarah. Being in the house she grew up in, surrounded by good memories, purged her of all of the negative feelings that she had seemed to accumulate over the past couple of weeks. Jareth was there along side her as she purged these feelings, crying when she cried, laughing when she laughed.   
  
She was sad when she had to leave, wanting nothing more than to crawl back into her tiny bed and sleep the years away, until she didn't have to worry anymore. Bading her family goodbye, she drove back to her seemingly dismal reality, and back into the negativity she thought she had left behind.   
  
Getting back to campus, Sarah immediately retreated into her dormroom, where she tried to sleep her feelings off. Her efforts were in vain, because everytime she tried to close her eyes, the image of Jareth crying while laying his head on her stomach was projected on her eyelids. She was haunted by somebody that was as untouchable as a ghost, but yet as tangible as her own hands.  
  
Lack of sleep was finally getting to Sarah as she walked across the stage towards the dressing rooms. The room was full of the female cast, chattering as loud as jackhammers, intensifying the headache she already had. She waited until it was clear, and walked in, only to find...  
  
"Jareth."  
  
"Hello, love. Surprised to see me?"  
  
Relieved is more like it, she thought to herself. Maybe he can figure out why I'm feeling this way...  
  
"Sarah? Are you alright?"  
  
Sarah snapped back to reality. "Jareth, I don't understand what's wrong with me. Everything seems to be weighted down on my shoulders, and it isn't a very good feeling at all. Being at home made it all go away, and then I come back here, and it all floods back and...especially with the tire...and then Jack has been...I don't know if...I just don't understand anything anymore, Jareth! I used to be so put together, so what's happened?!" Her composure failing, she collapsed, Jareth barely being able to break her fall. He curled her into his chest and let her cry. When she pulled away, gasping for breath, she apologized for her semi-nervous breakdown.  
  
"It's okay, Sarah. I completely understand."  
  
"You couldn't." There was no way he could know what she was going through! To be falling in love with the one person that she couldn't have was tearing her apart, slowly and painfully. The supposed best feeling in life was going to be the death of her, and nobody would know it.  
  
"Yes, I could. Believe me, I know so much more than you think."  
  
"NO, you don't! Quit acting like you know the ins and outs of me, Jareth, because you don't. You don't now, you didn't five years ago, and you never will!"  
  
"Calm down. There isn't any reason for you to get upset, and if you would just let me ex-"  
  
Sarah had enough. She exploded, standing on his tiptoes and screaming in his face.  
  
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXPLINATIONS! Ever since you came into my life, Jareth, you have turned it upside down, and I don't like it one bit! You think that I need you to help me get through everything, and I don't! Why won't you just leave me alone?"  
  
Jareth stepped back, not used to being yelled at the way she was yelling at him. His pride was stung, but he tried to not let it show. His eyes were as cold as his voice as he ground out "Is that the way that you want it, Sarah?"  
  
"Yes, Jareth. I want you just to leave me alone. I don't need you." A sob escaped from her throat as she choked out her last few words. She raised her sleeve to wipe her eyes, and when she removed it, he was gone. 


	8. VIII

Sarah woke up the next morning, sunlight streaming in through the bent ventian blinds. She stretched and yawned, her toes curling over the edge of the tiny dorm room bed. Her roommate, Alisha, was gone, which was strange, because Sarah usually had to drag her out of bed. Something important must be going on for Alisha to already be up.   
  
Sarah swung her feet over the edge of the bed and stretched again. She padded over to the sink to wash her face and get ready for the day when a sticky note caught her eye. She reached over and picked it up, reading it's scrawled message"  
  
"Sarah-You never sleep in, so I thought I'd let you stay there. Sweet dreams!-Alisha."  
  
What in the heck is that supposed to mean, Sarah thought to herself. She turned around to get a good look at the clock behind her.  
  
"Oh, my gosh!"  
  
The digtal numbers read 4:23. Sarah had slept since leaving the auditorium the night before until 4:30 in the afternoon! Call for opening night was in almost thirty minutes, she would never be able to get ready on time!   
  
"Oh, man! Why did I pick today to oversleep so bad?"  
  
Then it dawned on her. Jareth had left her the night before, and she spent her night laying in her bed, sobbing into her pillow. It had hit her like a slap on the face-Jareth, leaving? Impossible! But it wasn't, it had happened. She didn't think that she could hurt that much, over somebody that she kept trying to convince herself that she didn't even care about. He would come back, though. She knew he would. He had to.  
  
"Oh, man, I'm wasting time. They're gonna kill me if I'm not there soon!"  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Sarah was running into the dressing room, hair still soaking wet from her hurried shower and shoes left untied. "Sorry if I'm kind of late, you guys. I overslept," she said sheepishly, and sat down to dry her hair and apply her makeup.  
  
All too soon it was time for house to open. Students, families, and friends filed in to watch the opening night of the performance. Peeking out from behind the curtian, Sarah caught glimpses of her father, Karen, and Toby. She waved, then ducked backstage to catch the tail end of Professor Haskell's pre-show speech.  
  
"...And remember, no matter what happens, I don't care if a light falls on stage and makes a big hole, the SHOW MUST GO ON! Now you go get your little thesipan rear-ends out there and break a leg!" The short, stocky Professor beamed on his cast, proud of the shape that he had whipped them into. Sarah took a deep breath, the smile on her fellow castmates reflected on her face. Even though she had to go through this wonderful experience with Jack, it was almost worth it.  
  
Almost two hours later, the cast collapsed back stage, echoes of applause still ringing in their ears. They were tired, sweaty, and beat almost to death, but insanely happy. Opening night had been a huge success-the house was full, and the audience responded correctly in all the right places-laughed when there were puns, gasped when there were surprises, and were moved when moments were profound. Professor Haskell was in tears after their third curtian call, and delivered a speech to the cast that they were sure was beautiful, but seeing as how they couldn't hear through his sobs, they didn't particuarly care.  
  
After changing into her regular clothes and washing off her makeup, Sarah went to head back to the dorm. She was stopped by Ashley and Brady, their fashes flushed. "Oh no you don't! The whole cast is going out to celebrate a job well done, you HAVE to come!"  
  
"What kind of celebrating are we planning on doing?"   
  
"You know...the fun kind," they answered with a wink.  
  
Sarah was a little unnerved. She wasn't a big party girl, and she preferred to spend her time in her dorm room, studying or reading. "Well I don't know, you guys. I've got a huge test in two da-"  
  
They didn't give her a chance to finish her sentence. "Oh, Sarah, shut up! Live a little, why don't you?" They grabbed her by her arm and drug her off to a waiting car. She was crammed in the backseat between the two, as well as with two other people, and the driver put the pedal to the floor. She got over her slight disorientation after being in motion for a couple of minutes, then realized who all was in the car with her. Ashley and Brady, of course, as well as Austin and Junia crammed in the backseat with her. In the front were Kevin and Emily, stuffed into the tiny passenger seat, but not seeming to mind. Driving the car was...  
  
"Hey, Jack, were exactly are you taking us?"  
  
  
  
The clock was striking three A.M. as Sarah stumbled out the door. She'd been spending the last five or so hours testing her tolerance level, and had found out that it wasn't very high. She was ashamed of herself for drinking like an idiot, falling into the steriotypical description of a college aged girl. She didn't as much time to mentally beat herself up as she would of liked, though-she was soon busy emptying her stomach of the vile she had placed there.  
  
"Sarah? Woah, girl, you shouldn't of drank so much."  
  
She was faintly aware of the words being spoken almost into her ears, and of her hair being pulled away from her face and held at the nape of her neck. The fingertips grazign aganist her skin felt like Jareth's, so she was turning to face him with open arms when she placed the voice with a face.  
  
"Jack. What do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Being a good host. This is my cabin, after all, and you did get wasted on my liquor. I just thought I'd be nice."  
  
"It's not working."  
  
"Then why do you look like you're about to seal me inside a passionate imbrace?"  
  
Sarah dropped her arms to her sides. Her vision was blurring, and everything was spinning around. She tried to stand up, but fell into Jack after taking a step or two. "Let me go, Jack. I'm fine."  
  
"No, Sarah, you're not. I shouldn't of let them talk you into coming out here, I knew you weren't the kind of girl. Come on, you're going inside and going to bed."  
  
Sarah felt too much like lead to protest. She let Jack lead her inside, up the stairs, and into some unknown bedroom. He flicked the light switch and instantly she collapsed to the floor, her eyes burning, every sense suddenly coming to life.   
  
"Oh, man, I'm sorry. I forgot-here." He flicked the switch back off and turned on a soft lamp. Even that light hurt her eyes, but not as badly as the huge florescent light above her head. She weakly manged to crawl into the bed, her eyelids drooping. Jack retreated into the adjacent bathroom, returning with a wet washcloth that he pressed to her forehead. "Just go to sleep, Sarah. Don't wake up until you have to." He leaned forward with everyword he spoke, his lips getting closer and closer to coming in contact with hers. He finally briged the gap, his lightly brushing hers. He pulled back to see her reaction, but she was already asleep. He turned off the lamp and left, closing the door behind him.  
  
  
  
The whole encounter was seen by Jareth, almost jumping on his bed with fury. Everything he could get his hands on went sailing towards the opposite wall. He smashed the crystal he had been watching it with on the stone floor. Tears of frusturation and heartbreak were flowing out of his eyes as he stalked off to sit in the window. "That boys a liar. Everything he's doing to her is trying to win her over again, so he can have his way with her. I won't let that happen. I won't!" He voiced outloud, to what he thought was nobody.  
  
"That's what you think, Jareth."  
  
He turned from his perch on the windowsill, staring into the empty room, that wasn't so emtpy anymore. "Who are you, and what in the hell are you doing in my castle?"  
  
"You know perfectly well who I am. I'm just as capable of watching you as you are of watching me. Don't think that your intentions with Sarah are any different from mine. She's what we both want, that's the similarity between you and I. We're both fascinated with her, aren't we?"   
  
Jareth's mouth dropped open in surprise. The man standing before him, garnished in lavishly decorated clothes that could rival any royal was Jack.   
  
"You're a mortal. You can't be here, this is some trick my head is playing on me."  
  
"That's what you think. There are other dimensions than just the Underground and the mortal world, Jareth. Did it ever occur to you that I could of come from one of them?"  
  
"I can defeat you."  
  
"Jareth, you know all about the mortal world, don't you? Have you heard of what happens when a King dies, and he has two sons?"  
  
"Of course. The oldest son takes the throne, and his oldest takes it after that."  
  
"So would you say that the oldest son of the deceased King would have more power?"  
  
"Well, technically, yes, even if the youngest is better suited, and has more strength, knowledge, so on and so on."  
  
"It works that way in the non-mortal worlds, too, Jareth."  
  
"What are you trying to say?"  
  
"I'm the oldest." With his last statement, Jack pulled a scepter from behind his back. He pointed it at Jareth, and he was flying towards the wall above his bed. Jareth could escape from the invisible bonds that held him, even though he was trying as hard as he could.  
  
"You're not going to keep me from the woman that I want the most. And you know what I'm going to do, just because I'm such a nice big brother? I'm going to let you watch the whole thing." A crystal, tinted red, floated to Jareth's eye level. He couldn't turn his head or close his eyes-he was forced to watch.   
  
"You'll pay for this. I'll find a way to make you pay, Jack."  
  
"Ha! I wish you the best of luck. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lady to attend to..." With a tap of his scepter and a swish of his cloak, he was gone.  
  
Tears fell down Jareth's face, soaking the collar of his shirt. This is all my fault, he thought to himself. I should of never left her last night! If only I wasn't so hot-tempered...his troubled thoughts ended in more sobs.  
  
"Sarah. The world really is going to fall down, and I won't be there to save you. Please forgive me, my love." 


End file.
